NEW FEATURE: Sign up for permanent absentee voting with VoteAmerica
Written by Callie Buruchara, Debra Cleaver, Emily Behlmann, and Jennifer Lauv
We're thrilled to announce a new feature on our absentee/mail ballot request form: walking voters through how to sign up for permanent absentee voting (PAV). Permanent absentee voting allows a voter to sign up to receive mail ballots for all future elections, making voting easier and more convenient, while still being secure.
As of July 2024, 9 states (Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Virginia) allow voters to sign up for permanent absentee voting. Learn more about PAV here.
Permanent absentee voting encourages voter participation by bringing the polling place to the voter rather than making the voter go to the polling place. VoteAmerica conducted multiple analyses on automatic mail voting policies (both universal vote-by-mail and permanent absentee voting), which you can read about here, and found it to boost voter turnout. Our multivariate regression analysis found an average turnout lift from PAV of 13.53 percentage points for Montana in 2022 and 12.89 percentage points for Arizona in 2022.
How it works
When a voter requests an absentee ballot at voteamerica.org and their state offers PAV, they’ll be offered the choice between permanent absentee voting and a one-time absentee ballot.
Signing up for permanent absentee voting can sometimes involve updating voter registration or simply checking a specific box during the absentee ballot request. No matter the process, we’ve included on-screen instructions to guide the voter.
We’re committed to making voting accessible, and this feature makes it easier than ever.
Happy voting!
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